Mental Health

To many, the aroma of freshly-baked bread is so pleasant that it’s almost intoxicating! According to historical record, soldiers of the Roman Empire marched with rations of bread baked with flaxseed meal and flax seed oil 3000 years ago. They most likely felt the “grounded” feeling, a feeling of mental stability after eating their bread, just like we do today when we add it to our foods.

A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology reports that different lighting conditions can have a major impact on your mood. Researchers from the University of Toronto Scarborough in Canada and Northwestern University in Illinois conducted six studies, using different lighting conditions for each. They then asked study participants to rate various items, such as how attractive they thought someone was, how spicy a chicken wing sauce was and how they felt about certain words.

Dreaming is a significant phenomenon which has been surrounded by a great deal of conjecture about it’s value for mental health. We often like to think of dreaming as a sort of mental catharsis which helps us to deal in a more stable manner with our life. It often appears that people who remember their dreams are calmer and happier, as if their dreams are helping them to resolve conflicts and confront the complexities of life with more composure.

Researchers have found loneliness boosts the chances of dying almost as much as poverty for older adults. Loneliness from lack of rewarding social connections can raise the chances of premature death 14 percent according to findings presented at the 2014 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Chicago.

As people age, they often experience a decline in their mental functioning, but new research shows that a brief course of cognitive strength training can improve an older adult’s ability to reason and increase their processing speed for up to 10 years.

Working out and making music at the same time – scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig retrofitted conventional fitness machines to produce music during a workout. Not only do these “jymmin” machines reduce physical exertion during exercise. The researchers have now proven that they also have a mood-enhancing effect: After strength training with musical feedback, a person’s mood improves significantly. It appears that hormones are responsible for this beneficial effect on mood.

Do you recall sighing and naturally relaxing as you drive through a beautiful area? Your body and mind are telling you where it wants to be. A new study confirms that living or moving to a greener area leads to “significant and sustained” improvements in mental health.

Stress can lead to all kinds of neurochemical changes in the central nervous system, contributing to more anxiety and depression. And the holiday season — with all of its commitments — probably brought all kinds of excess stress to the surface. And now we are faced with the pressures and opportunities of a new year.

Among children and adolescents with chronic migraine, the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) resulted in greater reductions in headache frequency and migraine-related disability compared with headache education, according to a study appearing in JAMA.

While some consider winter a time to hibernate and relax, many women spend the winter suffering from depression due to the short days and lack of sunlight. Although Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects more women per year than men, you don’t have to go another long winter experiencing depression, irritability and mood fluctuations. Our suggestions for natural treatments for SAD will help you continue enjoying the activities you love most all season long.